depending on how you define truth, the camera (or film) rarely tells the truth. photographs are stylized moments in time, made visual. the camera by it's design actually modifies the truth of what it sees depending on various factors - shutter speed, aperture, focal length of the lens, film characteristics, grain, and camera movements (with view cameras), etc.
i've often heard people say that they want to capture exactly what is in front of them - the truth of what's there. but in my opinion it's the way that cameras distort the truth that makes photography so exciting.
despite what i've just said, i've discovered (for myself) an exciting way to show "truth" in photography - by photographing people when they don't expect to be photographed.
what do people (almost inevitably) do when someone's about to take a picture of them?
"smile!"
that's all good and fine but sometimes it's hard to really catch someone's personality if they're always putting their smile mask on when being photographed. sure it takes some guts to snap a picture of someone (even family) when they're not expecting it - but to capture them in that natural setting can be truly rewarding.
- unrehearsed subjects caught in a moment where the truth is subjective.
1 comments:
you make me smile.
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